All in Good Time, My Love
by littleblackcurlyhair
Summary: This takes place a few years after the last episode. Mike doesn't exist, and Phoebe and Joey are now married, and expecting their first child any minute! Note: I've never had kids, and I don't know what it's like to be in labor, so I apologize if anything I write is inaccurate. I'm just basing my knowledge on what I've heard, and Google. XD Please read and review! :D
1. Chapter 1

Phoebe sat in the back seat with Monica, while Chandler drove them to the hospital. She was at their Central Perk with them, moments ago, when her water broke. They, along with Ross and Rachel, were meeting there to go to the opening night of a play Joey was in, and they had an hour before it started. Monica gave Phoebe a sympathetic look, smoothing her friends hair with her hand. "Phoebe, I wish I had some advice for you, but I've never been in labor before!" she said.

"Don't worry, I've done this three times already, and this actually isn't so.." she froze, feeling her first contraction coming on. "Oh my God! AAAAAAHHHHHHH! IT HURTS SO MUCH!"

Getting stressed out, Monica kicked the back of Chandler's seat. "Chandler! For the love of God, get us there faster! Phoebe is in pain!"

"I'm trying! But you yelling at me is not helping!" Chandler said in a panicked tone. He pulled made a turn pulled up in front of the hospital. "We're there! It's ok, nobody panic!" Chandler got out of the car and went around to Phoebe's door and opened it. "Pheebs, are you ok!? Come on, let's get you inside.." He said, reaching down to help her up.

Phoebe grabbed Chandler's arm to pull herself up. She though her contraction was over, but as soon as she moved, she felt the sharp pain hit her again like a ton of bricks. It hurt so much more than she remembered. "Oh, thank God I only have to do this once, this time! Ow, OW! OWWW!" she screamed.

"AHH! OW! OW!" Chandler screamed back, as Phoebe latched onto his arm, squeezing for dear life. "Monica, make her stop! She's hurting me!"

"I can't do anything to her, she's a pregnant woman!" Monica replied, getting out of the car. "Come on, Pheebs, just breath through it! We're almost there! Chandler, where's Joey!?" Monica demanded.

"If I knew that, do you think I'd be the one having my arm twisted off right now! Remember, Pheebs, Joey's the one that did this to you, don't take it out on me! Please!"

Taking a few deep breaths, Phoebe slowly stood up. "Sorry Chandler...I think it's over. God dammit, that hurt! I just hope the baby is ok.."

Monica put her arm around her, helping her ease her way to the front doors. "Don't worry, Pheebs. You and the baby are going to be just fine!"

Chandler rushed to the front desk to check Phoebe in while Monica helped Phoebe inside, so that they could get her in as fast as possible. He reached the receptionist's desk, out of breath. "Hi! Uh...I have a baby...coming out!" Chandler said, gesturing with his hands. The receptionist gave him a strange look. "Oh, no! Not me! Let me rephrase that...you see.."

The receptionist looked around him, seeing Phoebe coming in behind him. "It's alright sir, we'll get her in to see a doctor as soon as possible. Now, are you the father?"

"Uh..no. See, you see, the father is doing this play, but he should be here soon..I hope." Chandler explained. A nurse came over to Phoebe, bringing her a wheel chair to sit in, and handing her a clipboard with some papers.

"We just need you to sign this, and we'll get you into Maternity right away, ok, ma'am?" The nurse said.

Phoebe took the clipboard and pen, and started to write. "God, where is Joey?" she said, suddenly worried. "This wasn't supposed to happen for another 2 weeks! What if he doesn't get here in time?"

"Don't worry, Pheebs, he wouldn't miss this for the world." Monica assured her. She looked up at Chandler when she heard his phone go off. "Is that him?"

Chandler looked at his phone, reading the text message. "No, it's Ross. Him and Rachel are on their way. I'll try calling Joey again."

Chandler took his phone, and stepped aside to call Joey while Phoebe got signed into the hospital. He waited impatiently as it kept ringing. He knew that Joey had taken this job, not expecting the baby to come so soon, and there was the possibility he wasn't answering because he was on stage. He finally got his voice mail and hung up, frustrated. "Oh, pick up, dammit!" he cried, calling the number again.

The lights dimmed to darkness on stage, and Joey heard applause from the audience. It was the first intermission, and his character had just been brutally killed off in the play, about Lizzie Borden. He got off stage before the lights could come on again and went backstage. He was worried, because he couldn't help but notice the 5 empty chairs in the audience where Phoebe and his friends were supposed to be. This wasn't the best gig he'd ever done, but he did it because he knew that him and Phoebe needed money for the when the baby came. Regardless, he was still a little hurt that his friends weren't there. They said they were going to be there tonight, where could they be? He was pacing around backstage, still in costume, and covered in fake blood, when he reached into his pocket for his phone. He had to put it on silent while he was on stage. He saw that he had 5 missed calls from Chandler, so he called his number. Chandler answered on the first ring.

"Joey! Why didn't you answer your phone, man?" he heard him say, sounding frantic about something.

"Uh..because I was on stage. Why, what's going on? Where are you guys?"

"I've been to your plays before, when that hasn't stopped you from answering it! Anyways..we're at the hospital. Phoebe's gone into labor!"

Joey's eyes widened. He felt his heart start pounding with both excitement and anxiety. "Oh my God! She's..she's having the baby!? Right now!? Why didn't you tell me, man!? Well..how's she doing? Is she ok?"

"She's fine, so far. She's had some contractions, so if I were you, I'd get down here as soon as you can, because I don't think this baby is gonna wait much longer!"

"Ok! I'm coming! I'm leaving right now!" He said, hanging up. "I can't believe it..I'm gonna be a dad.." he said to himself. "I'M GONNA BE A DAD!"

The actress playing Lizzie stood nearby, looking at him strangely and still holding her axe.

"Hey, listen, tell the director I had to take off early! Kind of an emergency! I mean, I'm dead here anyways, I don't have anymore lines, right?..I gotta go!" he said, as he rushed past her and ran out the exit to the parking lot and got in his car.


	2. Chapter 2

Phoebe had just gotten settled the delivery room of the maternity ward. The doctors had run some tests, and there was was still no sign of Joey, even though Chandler assured her he was on his way. She looked up at the clock, getting more and more stressed out and worried with every passing minute that he wasn't there. She couldn't imagine going through this without Joey by her side, and she knew that he wouldn't want to miss this for anything. He was so excited to be a father. She put her hands on her stomach, where the baby was. "Look, I know you're anxious to get out of there...I know your cousins probably trashed the place, when they were in there, I mean, there was three of them! ..But if you could hold on just a little bit longer, so that your daddy can be here when you do come out that would be.."

She stopped when she heard the door open, hoping to see Joey, but it was only Chandler and Monica coming back in, with Ross and Rachel.

"Hey, sorry we're late, Pheebs! We had to drop Emma off with the babysitter." Rachel said, as she came to Phoebe's side and put her arm  
arm around her. "How are you feeling, Sweetie?"

Phoebe gave a shrug. "Eh..can't complain, I guess. The worst part hasn't even started, yet."

Rachel gave her a hug. "Don't worry, Pheebs. It's not so bad..once it's over."

Ross looked around the room and turned to Chandler. "Wait..where's Joey?"

"He's on his way." Chandler replied, looking at his watch. "He's running a little late, but...it is Joey. I mean, maybe he got lost in the cafeteria or something!"

Phoebe sighed, propping herself up somewhat on her pillows. "Yeah, well he better get here, soon. These contractions have been a bitch!...Oh God,  
here comes another one...SOMEONE GIVE ME THEIR HAND!" she yelled.

Chandler rubbed his arm, which was still sore from when Phoebe grabbed it during her last contraction. "No way! Not doing that again!"

Ross went over to Phoebe, giving her his hand. "Chandler, don't be so inconsiderate! How would you feel if-AAAHHHH! OH GOD, MY HAND!"

Ross continued shrieking in pain, as Phoebe screamed along with him. Ross pulled his hand back when it was over. "Jesus, woman!"

Rachel knelt down beside her bed. "Oh God, Phoebe, does it hurt real bad? Maybe we should get you some drugs, or something.."

"Yes, please for the love of God, get her something!" Ross said, still holding his hand in pain.

"No, I don't want any drugs, I just want Joey! Where is he, dammit!?"

Chandler shrugged. "Well, if I were him, I'd be hiding in fear right now!" he said.

Monica looked at her husband in the same exasperated way always she always did when he cracked jokes at inappropriate times, and he shut up, taking the hint.

"I'll go downstairs and look for him again." he said, and left the room.

...

Joey ran as fast as he could to the front doors of the hospital, and up to the front desk. The drive there seemed to take forever. He broke more driving laws than he cared to think about trying to get there, but it didn't matter. This was something that he knew he could not miss, for any reason, and he couldn't let Phoebe go through this alone.

"Excuse me!" he said to the receptionist at the desk. "I need to.." before he could finish his sentence, the woman looked up from her desk, her eyes widening at the sight of him. "Oh my Goodness! Sir, what happened!? Are you alright?"

"What!?" Joey looked down, and remembered that he was still in costume, which included what was meant to be a bloody axe wound in his chest. "Oh..no, no, this is fake blood!"

The receptionist rolled her eyes. "Look, sir..if this is some sort of sick joke, I will call security!"

"NO!" Joey said, getting frustrated as he tried to explain. "It's stage blood, I'm an actor! Look, I need to find my wife! She's having a baby, and.."

"Joey?"

Joey turned around, seeing Chandler coming towards him from down the hall. "Chandler! Thank God! Where's Phoebe? Did I miss it!? Is the baby here?"

Chandler gave a similar reaction to the fake blood as the receptionist's as he got closer to Joey, staggering back a few steps, in horror.

"BAAAAH! Jesus!"

Joey became annoyed and rolled his eyes. "It's fake blood, Chandler! I didn't have time to change!"

"Oh...of course. Because showing up to the ER covered in real blood wouldn't make any sense!" Chandler said. "Where have you been, man!? Phoebe just went up to the delivery room, she's been worried sick about you! Come on!"

Chandler grabbed Joey's arm, quickly leading him over to the elevator. "Although you should probably change before you go into the room with her, or you're just gonna end up scaring that baby right out of her!"

Once they took the elevator upstairs, they both ran down the hall to the Maternity ward. They met everyone else in the hall, minus Phoebe before they reached her room.

"Oh my God, Joey! There you are!" Monica said as they approached them. "What the hell happened!?"

Joey sighed. "It's fake blood! FAKE! ..Look, is Phoebe ok? Where is she?"

Just then, a doctor came out of Phoebe's room and walked over to them, holding a clipboard in one arm. "Excuse me, are you Joseph Tribbiani?" he asked.

"Yes!" Joey told him, turning around.

"Great, I'm Dr Turner. Your wife is doing just fine. We're just prepping her for delivery right now, so why don't you go with the nurses and get scrubbed in so you can join us?"

Joey breathed a sigh of relief, knowing that he was on time, and everything seemed to be under control. "Alright, I will. Thank you." he turned to face his friends. "I guess I'll see you guys when it's over."  
he told them.

"Yeah we'll just wait out here." Ross said, patting him on the back. "Good luck, man!"

The four of them went to go sit in the waiting area while a nurse took Joey into another room.

...

Phoebe was trying everything she could to mentally keep the baby inside of her until Joey arrived, but she was in so much pain that it was becoming unbearable. She just wanted this to be over with so she could stop hurting. A nurse was beside her, trying to keep her calm.

As Phoebe breathed, she saw the door open in the corner of her eye and looked up. She let out a huge breath of relief when she saw that he had finally shown up.

"Joey! Oh, thank God you're here!" she said. She managed to smile, even through the pain.

He rushed over to her side, taking her hand. "I'm here, Pheebs! I'm so sorry I'm late! I just wasn't expecting this to happen so soon!"

"I know, neither was I! God..can you believe it? We're going to be parents!" she said, excitedly.

Joey smiled and leaned over to give her a kiss. He was just as excited now that this was finally happening, after 9 months of waiting.

"I know, this is amazing, I'm so happy, Pheebs!..Are you alright, though? Are you in a lot of pain?" he asked.

"Ugh..like you wouldn't believe. Oh no..it's happening again!" Phoebe took a deep breath, bracing herself for the huge contraction she felt coming on. "AAAAAAAAAUUUUGH! Oh God! Oh GOD, NO! I JUST WANT THIS THING OUT! JUST GET THIS DAMN THING OUT OF ME, I WANT IT OUT!" she screamed.

Joey tried not to laugh. He didn't mean to, he was just so nervous. Phoebe looked at him, growing even more infuriated.

"Are you laughing!? You think this is funny!? This is all your fault! YOU DID THIS!" She cried, punching him in the arm with a strength Joey never knew that she had.

"OWWW! GEEZ! I'm sorry! I'm just nervous, Pheebs!" he said.

Just then, opened the door and returned to the room. "Mr and Mrs Tribbiani? Our test results are showing that your baby is positioned at an angle that would make traditional labor very difficult. We've tried to turn it, but it's just too dangerous for the baby."

Joey looked from Phoebe to the doctor, becoming worried, and confused. "So what does that mean?"

"It means that we have no choice but to delivery this baby by Cesarian section." Dr. Turner explained.

"Woah, wait...what's a Cesarian section?" Joey asked, growing even more confused.

"You know, a C-section, Joey." Phoebe told him. He looked at her with a blank stare. Phoebe rolled her eyes. "Joey, they're going to cut me open, and take the baby out!"

"What!? That sounds horrible!" Joey said.

"Yeah well..if it means less pain, then I'm all for it! I just want it to stop!" Phoebe told the doctor.

"Well, fortunately, we'll be able to give you something for the pain." assured her.

Several minutes passed after the doctors set up everything for the C-section operation and gave her some sort of sedative IV that was working wonders for her. The pain and stress that Phoebe had been feeling earlier slowly began to melt away from her body, and she was beginning to feel 100% better. She laid back on her pillows, in a sudden blissful daze, as she stared up at the colourful paintings on the ceiling of the maternity room. She felt no pain, or pressure. She was unaware of whatever the doctors were doing to her at the moment. She didn't even know if they had begun to operate yet. She raised her hand above her face, just staring at the rings on her fingers for a moment.

"Joey?"

She felt him take her hand, gently squeezing it. "I'm right here, babe. How are you feeling?" he asked.

"I feel...pretty awesome, actually!" she said. "Wow..I am so high right now! ..You know, I should take drugs more often!"

Joey laughed. "Well, you're doing so good, Pheebs! I'm proud of you." he told her and kissed her cheek.

"Yeah, I don't feel anything at all! I think I much prefer having kids this way..." she said. She turned her head, looking up at Joey.

"Joey?" she said, gently placing her hand on the side of his face. "I love you. You're gonna be such an amazing dad, you know that?"

Joey smiled down at her. He brushed her hair back, and kissed her on the forehead. "I love you too, Pheebs. So much!"

Joey was trying to concentrate to what was going on on the other side of the operating table, but it was hard for him to watch them cut her open like that, even though he knew she wasn't in any pain. He also didn't understand half of the medical terminology the doctor and the nurses used with each other, even after having played a doctor on TV. All he knew was that any minute now, he was going to be a father, and his life would be changed forever. He was anxious, nervous and excited, all at once. He couldn't believe that he and Phoebe were going to have a family.

A few more minutes passed, and before he knew what as happening, Joey heard a shrill, crying sound. He looked up and saw the small, pink, bundle the doctor had just lifted out of his wife, and he froze, paralyzed with overwhelming emotions. His jaw dropped and his eyes immediately filled with tears. That tiny, screaming, blood-covered thing the doctor was holding, was the most beautiful thing he had ever seen in his life.

"It's a boy!" the doctor announced. "Congratulations, Mr. and Mrs. Tribbiani!"

"It's a boy.." Joey said, in disbelief. "Oh my God! That's our baby! Phoebe, we have a boy!" he cried.

Phoebe stared up at the baby in awe. "Oh my God.." she said, with a smile.

He put his arms around her, and just held her tightly, but carefully, because he didn't want to hurt her in her fragile state. He kissed once again, on the temple. "You did it, Pheebs! I'm so proud of you!"

After a few seconds, Phoebe didn't answer, and Joey had a sudden gut-wrenching feeling that something was wrong. He felt her go limp in his arms, and when he looked down, he saw her eyes roll back into her head. "Phoebe?" The machine that had been monitoring her heart throughout the entire operation was barely picking up anything at all. Joey froze with sudden fear. "PHOEBE! ! What's happening!?"

The doctor and nurses had been occupied with cleaning off the baby, and turned around. quickly began giving orders to his staff, and said something about "severe hemorrhaging".

"We need to do a transplant, right away! Somebody go down to the lab immediately!" Dr. Turner was saying. "Mr. Tribbiani , I'm sorry, but I'm going to need you to step outside right now."

The next thing Joey knew, someone was pulling him away from Phoebe, forcing him to let go of her, as they all began to crowd around her, working quickly, trying to save her. "What's going on, doctor!? What's wrong with her!?" he demanded as one of the nurses took his arm and tried to lead him to the door. Joey yanked his arm away. "No, I'm not going anywhere! I can't leave her!"

"Mr. Tribbiani , I'm very sorry, but you can't be in here right now!" the nurse said, taking him out into the hall, away from the room.

"What's going on!? Will someone just answer me, for Christs sake!?" Joey was getting more and more angry as the nurse left him out there. He sank down onto one of the benches in the hallway, his head in his hands, feeling more terrified that he'd ever felt in his life.


	3. Chapter 3

Joey just sat there, his whole body shaking. He didn't know what to do. Moments ago he was happier than he had ever been in his life, and now, he just felt so scared and helpless, knowing he couldn't do anything for Phoebe. It was killing him not knowing what was happening or whether or not she was going to be ok. He just wanted her to be ok so they could take their baby home and be a family, like they were supposed to.

"Joey!"

Hearing his name, Joey looked up, seeing Monica, Chandler, Rachel and Ross coming towards him from down the hall. They all looked excited, expecting happy news. He didn't know what to tell them.

"So how'd it go, man?" Chandler asked. Joey just stared down at the ground, unable to answer him. Their smiles dissappeared when they noticed the state he was in.

"Joey?" Rachel said, sounding concerned. "Honey, what's wrong? Is the baby ok?"

After a moment, Joey swallowed hard and wiped his eyes as he slowly rose to his feet.

"The baby's fine..I think. We, um...we had a boy. But Phoebe's...she's..." Joey took a shaky breath. "I don't know what's going on... She had to have a C-Section, and...and something went wrong, and they...they won't tell me what's going on, they just sent me out here and.. I just.." he stopped himself as he started to choke up.

No one said anything for a moment or two. They had never seen him so upset before. Rachel put her arms around Joey's shoulders. "Oh, Sweetie..it's ok!" she said, giving him a hug.

One by one, they all gathered around him in a group hug. They just stood in the hall like that for a minute or two, not saying anything. Every one of them was scared for Joey and the baby. Scared that they might lose one of their closest friends. Even so, Joey was glad they were there, and that he didn't have to go through this alone right now. It was times like this he was really grateful to have such close friends.  
A moment later, Joey saw Phoebe's doctor came around the corner, and he rushed over to talk to him. "Dr. Turner! How is she!?"

"Mr. Tribbiani, I'm afraid your wife lost a lot of blood during the operation.." Dr. Turner began. "She's very weak right now. We've given her a blood transfusion, which could stabilize her condition, if her body doesn't reject it, but the next few hours are going to be critical. We're doing everything we can at this time.."

Joey shook his head. He wasn't satisfied with the doctors answer, and knowing that he was going to have to wait even longer to know if Phoebe was going to pull through.

"Look...that woman means the whole world to me. And..and we have a baby now! If she..." Joey paused, trying not to break down again. "Dr. Turner, you cannot let anything happen to her!"

"I promise that we're doing absolutely everything we can for her." the doctor said again. "This is a common complication with Cesarian section births, and I can assure you she's in good hands."

Joey let out a sigh, knowing that all he could do now is wait. These next few hours were going to be hell to get through.

"What about the baby?" he asked.

"He's doing fine." Dr. Turner assured him. "From what I'm told, he's very healthy. You can see him if you'd like."

Joey nodded. "Yeah, I would."

"Alright, I'll have the nurses bring him to your room, and I'll be sure to keep you updated on your wife's condition. I'll let you know if there are any changes."

Dr. Turner turned around to go back into the operating room, and Joey turned back to his friends, who had heard everything the doctor said.

"Hey, um..do you guys mind if I go alone to see the baby? You guys can see him afterwards, I promise." he said.

"Yeah, of course, Joe." Chandler told him, patting him on the shoulder.

Monica gave him another hug. "Be strong, Joey. We'll be right out here if you need us."

"Thanks, guys." Joey said.

A few minutes later, Joey was in the room where him and Phoebe were supposed to stay tonight after the delivery, waiting for the nurses to bring the baby in. He sat down in a chair next to the empty bed. He so badly wished that Phoebe could be here during the first few hours of their son's life.

He could hear a baby crying somewhere outside the room, and then two nurses came in, with what looked like a plastic bassinet on wheels.

"Hi, you must be the father of this little guy!" One of them said. "We've just measured him and weighed him in. 6 pounds, 4 ounces. That's a fairly decent size for a baby born so early. He's very healthy, and very beautiful! congratulations."

Joey gave a half smile as he got up. "Thanks." he said, already proud of his son. He noticed the baby was still crying.

"He's a little fussy right now, but I think he'll settle down after his first meal. Would you like to try feeding him?" the nurse asked Joey, who gave her a puzzled look.

"Uh...how am I going to do that? I mean, I don't have.."

The other nurse laughed. She had prepared a baby bottle, and handed it to Joey before she picked the baby up out of his bassinet. She wrapped him in a blanket and Joey sat down on the bed, as she placed him into his arms. He couldn't believe how tiny he was. He felt so light and fragile in his arms.

"We'll let you two get acquainted, and we'll be back in a few minutes to check on him, ok?" the nurse said, and they left the room.  
Joey couldn't stop looking at the baby he was holding. He looked so different, now that he wasn't covered in blood. "Hey, little guy...Shhh, it's ok, don't cry!" Joey said. He tried putting the bottle in his mouth. The baby took the bottle and immediately went quiet, except for making a few little noises as he drank. He kept opening and closing his eyes, looking up at Joey. He seemed content in his arms, like he knew that he  
was with his dad. Joey smiled. He reached down, putting his finger in his tiny little hand. It instantly closed around it.

"Quite the little grip you got there!" Joey said with a laugh. After a while, the baby closed his eyes, drifting off to sleep.

"You really are beautiful." Joey whispered to him. "Just like your mom. It's kinda hard for me to tell right now, but I think you have her eyes. You've got my hair, though." He touched the baby's full head of thick, dark hair which naturally stuck up at the ends, similar to his own hair. He noticed that he had already finished the bottle and set it aside. "I think you have my appetite, too." he said with a laugh. He carefully lifted the baby to kiss him on the forehead, trying not to wake him. "They said you were crying because you were hungry, but I think you just miss your mommy, huh?" Joey took a deep breath. "I miss her, too.." he said. The terrifying thought of taking him home without her suddenly hit him. He tried to remember what Monica said about being strong. It was the only thing he could do right now. "Hopefully you'll get to meet her, soon. You'll like her. She's so sweet, and pretty, and funny..she has the most amazing laugh. But I guess you already know that, I mean, you lived in her for 9 months."

A little while later, a nurse came back to check on him.  
"Hey, uh, there's a group of four people outside in the waiting room, could you please send them in here?" Joey asked.

"Of course." The nurse said, and left. After a few minutes, the others came into the room. They gathered around where Joey was, looking at the baby.

"Oh my God, Joey, he's adorable!" Monica said. "Can I hold him?"

"Yeah, sure." Joey said, carefully handing the baby off to Monica. "Just...be careful. Don't drop him!"

Monica laughed. "It's ok, Joey, I raised two babies, remember?"

Rachel was looking at him over Monica's shoulder. "God, he's so tiny and cute!" she said. "Do you guys have a name picked out yet?"  
"Nah..we haven't really decided on anything yet."

"I thought you and Pheebs both wanted to name your kid The Hulk?" Chandler said.

Joey smiled. "Yeah..we did consider it, but then I wanted to name him Spiderman and it just became a huge arguement, so we decided against it. " his smile faded as he was reminded of Phoebe again, and he sighed, sitting down in the chair.

Chandler, sensing his pain, sat down on the bed, across Joey while everyone else was still occupied with the baby. "Hey, come on, man. She'll be ok." he said.

"Yeah, what if she's not?" Joey said. "I just..I don't know if I can do this without her, you know? I don't know anything about being a dad.."

"Neither did I when the twins were born." Chandler told him.

"But you had Monica.." Joey pointed out.

Chandler reached over, putting his hand on Joey's shoulder. "Listen, I'm scared for Phoebe right now, too. We all are. But do you really think she'd want us to worry?"

"No.." Joey said, knowing Chandler was right.

"Things'll get better, Joe. You'll see." Chandler said, as he stood up and gave Joey a hug.

"Thanks, man." Joey said, and they went to go join the others. Just then, the door opened and Dr. Turner was there.

"Mr. Tribbiani, can I speak with you for a moment?" he asked.

Joey held his breath when he saw him, not knowing whether he was there to bring good or bad news about Phoebe. He wasn't sure he was ready to hear what he had to say. He stepped out into the hall and forced himself to look at the doctor, but he was unable to read his face to know what he was about to say.

"What is it, Doctor?" he asked, trying to emotionally brace himself.

"I just thought I'd let you know that the transfusion is going very well, so far. She's going to need a lot of rest, but we don't expect there to be any problems. You may even be able to leave here as early as tomorrow if all goes well."

Joey felt a huge sense of relief suddenly wash over him hearing those words. This was the best news he had ever heard. He was so happy that he hugged the doctor without even thinking about it. This was the man who had just saved his wife's life. "Thank you...thank you, so much, Doctor!" Joey said, stepping back. "Can I see her?"

"Your very welcome." Dr. Turner said with a chuckle. "And right now, she's in recovery. She's heavily sedated but you're more than welcome to visit her if you'd like."

"Alright, thank you." Joey said again, and went back into the room. Everyone was waiting by the door. They all looked at him when he walked in, anxiously waiting to hear what the doctor said and how Phoebe was doing.

Joey smiled. "She's gonna be ok." he said.

"Oh, thank God!" Rachel said. "I knew she'd pull through!"

"That's great news, Joey!" Ross told him. He was holding the baby, who was now awake, but he wasn't crying. Ross smiled down at him. "You hear that, buddy? You're mommy's gonna be all better! Yay!" He handed him over to Joey. "Well here, why don't you take him to Pheebs? I think it's about time they officially met!"

"Yeah, I think you're right. She's gonna be so happy to see you!" Joey said to the baby. He looked up at everyone. "Alright, I'll see you guys in a little bit."

...  
The last thing Phoebe remembered, before everything went black was seeing her baby in the doctors arms, hearing his cries. Had that been a dream? Was the baby here? She slowly opened her eyes, and realized she was still in the hospital, but it was dark. No one was around. She struggled to lift her head, feeling so groggy and weak. Pulling herself as far upright as she could manage, she put her hand on her stomach, expecting to feel the bump that had been there before. She was suddenly awake when she felt that her stomach was flat. "Oh God..." she murmered. "Where's my baby!?"

She looked around the room in a panic. She saw that Joey was sitting in a chair next to the bed, and he seemed to have fallen asleep. He was holding what looked like a small bundle of blankets against his chest.

"Joey!" she cried out.

He opened his eyes, somewhat startled. "Hey, Pheebs! You're awake!" he said.

Phoebe was so confused. "Wha- What's going on!? Where's the baby?"

"He's right here, sweetie. It's ok." Joey said.

Phoebe looked at him, still confused. "What happened? How long have I been in a coma? What year is it?" she asked.

Joey laughed as he stood up. He sat down next to her on the edge of the bed. "It's only been a couple hours, Pheebs." He put his free arm around her, pulling her close to him, and kissing the top of her head. He just held her tightly for a few seconds. "I'm so glad you're ok, Phoebe." he said. "I would have woke you earlier, but the doctors said I should let you sleep. Here, you wanna hold him?"

Joey layed the bundle he was holding down in her arms. She looked down at him, speechless for a few seconds when she saw his little face. "Oh my God. He's..he's beautiful!" she whispered.

"Of course he is, he's got good-looking parents!" Joey said with a grin. He put his hand on Phoebe's face, looking her in the eyes very seriously. "Listen, Phoebe...you are never, ever allowed to scare me like that again, ok?" He said.

"..Ok?" Phoebe agreed, still slightly confused. She didn't realize the seriousness of what happened when she blacked out.

Joey smiled. "Good. Because I have never been so terrified as I was today, just thinking about not having you in my life." he leaned in closer, kissing her softly. "I love you so much, Pheebs."

"I love you, too." She said. She heard the baby making little noises and looked down, smiling at him. "God, he's so tiny and perfect. I already love him so much!" she said, running her hand over his soft hair. "We did a pretty good job reproducing, huh?"

"Yeah we did!" Joey said, putting his arms around her. He rested his cheek against her hair as he looked down at the baby. "I still haven't thought of a name for him yet.." he said.

"Well, I thought we agreed on naming him after you?" Phoebe said.

"Yeah...but, I was named after my dad, and I was thinking, it might get kind of confusing if there were three of us in the family." Joey pointed out.

Phoebe thought it over for a minute, looking at her son, and trying to think of what to call him. "Well, if we had a girl, I wanted to name her Lily, after my mom but.. Ooh, we could name him after Jackson!"

Joey looked at her, confused. "Who's Jackson?"

"He was the cop who showed up at our house to bag my mom's body, after she killed herself. Officer Edward Jackson. He was so nice. He bought me and Ursula ice cream on the way to the police station."

"Huh.." Joey said. He was reluctant to name his son after something attached to what he thought of as morbid, but then again, Phoebe had never really thought of her mom's death as morbid. More like a life changing event for her. Doing something slightly odd like this was pretty typical of her, and that was why he loved her. He nodded in approval. "I like it!"

"Yeah?" Pheobe said, grinning. She was glad Joey agreed. "I think it suites him."

"I think so, too." Joey said. He saw that Jackson was starting to fuss and cry all of a sudden.

"Uh oh.. he probably just needs a new diaper. Let me go grab one from the nurse and I'll change him. I'll be right back!" Joey said. He kissed Phoebe on the cheek and Jackson on the head before he left, even though he would see them again in a few minutes.

Phoebe smiled down at the baby, realizing that she had a moment alone with him. "Shh, it's alright, my love. Mommy's right here." she said, holding him closer to her and rocking him until he calmed down a little. "By the way, it's really nice to finally meet you. I know we didn't get a proper introduction earlier, because I kinda fainted...sorry about that. Sorry if I scared you. But I'm here, now. You know..I didn't have a mom growing up, and let me tell you..it was tough! I don't ever want you to have to feel that emptiness that I felt, so I promise that I'll try to stick around as long as I possibly can.. Unless, y'know, something happens to me, but I'll try to be extra careful from now on, and I definitely will not kill myself, because I wanna see you grow up, and I will always be there for you, no matter what happens, ok?" Phoebe bent down, kissing his forehead. "Your dad and I love you so much. We've loved you from the moment we knew that you existed. When you were just a tiny little..bean-shaped thing on a grainy ultra-sound screen. I think we're gonna be a pretty awesome family." she said with a smirk, as touched his hair again.

She felt the same sense of love and happiness that she did whens he was holding her brother's triplets for the first time. Only this time, she was even happier, because she knew that this time, she really could bring him home, and see him everyday. This baby was hers to keep.

A/N: Thank you so much to everyone who read and reviewed this, I hope you enjoyed it! I will be writing an epilogue to go along with it soon, so stay tuned! :D


	4. 18 months later

Phoebe pushes the stroller up the hill towards the picnic bench at the park, which is slowly becoming the new hangout spot for  
her and her friends. It's the perfect place for them to relax while their kids burned off energy chasing each other around the  
playground. The six of them seem to meet up togetherless than they use to, with their busy lives of raising kids, while trying to earn  
a living, but when they do, it's almost always here, instead of Central Perk. The kids are getting too big to just sit in their strollers,  
and all they wanna do is run and play, which tends to disturb the other customers. Although they do still stop in frequently and get their  
coffees to go. In fact, Phoebe has a tray of hot beverages from Central Perk with her for all of her friends, as it's her turn to buy.  
Everyone is here today, minus Joey who's still at work. Phoebe sees Monica, fussing over the twins. Making sure they have  
hand sanitizer before they go on the playground. Reminding them not to get their clothes dirty. Chandler sits next to her, on going over  
some notes for his comedy writing job. Ross and Rachel are on the other side of the table, watching Emma play. As the twins run off to join her,  
Ross calls out to his daughter, reminding her to keep an eye on her little cousins.

While Phoebe is handing out the drinks to her friends, Jackson begins babbling excitedly in his stroller when he sees the older kids. He tries to stand up, eager to play with them.

"Ok, ok.." Phoebe says, unbuckling him from his seat. She lifts him out, making sure his coat is buttoned up all the way, and kisses him on the cheek. "Don't wander off too far, Mister!You better stay where I can see you" she says, before she sets him down. "Go play. Be free, my son!" She laughs, watching him run on his chubby little legs towards the sand pit to play with the other kids. It wasn't very long ago that he took his first steps, and already he's so eager to explore. Phoebe can't seem to keep him within arms reach anymore no matter how hard she tries. She can still remember him as a tiny baby in her arms in the hospital, 18 months ago. And she knows that it's only a matter of time before her sweet baby boy isn't a much of a baby anymore.

She sits down next to Rachel, who laughs along with her. "God, he is so cute! I can't believe how big he's getting!"

"Oh, I know." Phoebe says. "Pretty soon he'll be going off to kindergarden..and then learning to ride a bike..and then buying a motorcyle and picking up chicks with it. Ugh..he's gonna be like Joey all over again!"

"Hey, speaking of Joey, wasn't he supposed to be coming home from Miami today?" Ross asks.

"Oh yeah, he's catching a later flight, though. He won't be in until tonight." Phoebe tells him.

Earlier this year, Joey was able to hire himself a new agent who managed to land him a role as a minor character on a new crime series, and so far, things seem to be going really well. He's signed a two year contract with them, and the show is becoming somewhat popular. Phoebe knows it's not exactly the kind of job he's always wanted, but it's steady work, and it allows him to still have time to spend at home with his family, so he's happy with it, and Phoebe couldn't be more proud of him.

Normally, all the episodes are filmed in New York, but the season finale is being shot in Miami, so Joey has been gone for two weeks now. Even though he calls to talk to her and Jackson every night, she can hardly wait for him to get home. She knows Jackson has been missing him, too. Even though he doesn't understand the show, he watches it every day. His face lighting up with excitement when he sees his daddy on the screen. Phoebe feels so bad because he's too little to understand why Joey has to be away for so long. She let's out a sigh. She knows that by the time Joey gets home, Jackson will probably be asleep. It's too bad he couldn't have left earlier.

"Erica, don't pour sand in your brother's hair!" Phoebe hears Monica yell as she suddenly leaps up from the table and runs over to her kids. While Phoebe's momentarily distracted, watching Monica freak out over her son's hair with amusement, when she suddenly feels a hand on her shoulder, and looks down to see a boquet of beautiful flowers in front of her. With a gasp, she turns around.

"Hey, beautiful! How you doin'?" Joey says.

Phoebe gets up from the table and throws her arms around her husband so fast she almost knocks him over. "Oh my God! I thought you weren't going to be home until later!"

"Yeah..I lied." He says with a smirk. "I thought I'd catch an early flight, and surprise you! Besides, I couldn't stand being away any longer. I've missed you so much!" He pulls her closer to him and leans down to kiss her.

"I've missed you too." Phoebe says, and kisses him back. She's so happy that he's finally home.

"Hey, would you knock it off? This is a family place!" She hears Chandler say.

"Yeah, get a room, you two!" Ross agrees.

Joey laughs and looks down at Phoebe, his arms still around her. "Hmm, That's not a bad idea. You guys don't mind watching our kid for a few hours, do you?"

A moment later, they both look up when they hear the familar sound of Jackson crying, and see that he's apparently been accidently knocked down in the sand pit by one of the bigger kids.

"I got this one, Pheebs." Joey tells her.

He rushes over to his son, scooping him up in his arms, swinging through the air util he's squealing with laughter, and seems to have forgotten all about his minor accident. Joey kisses him on the cheek. "How's Daddy's little man, huh? I sure have missed you!" Phoebe can't help but smile at how happy they are to see each other. Joey carries him back over to the table and sits down next to Phoebe. Holding Jackson in his lap, he grabs his diaper bag off the table.

"Hey, Pheebs, I've been thinking.." he says, as he digs through the bag until he finds some baby wipes to wipe the dirt off Jackson's face. "Maybe we should have another one."

Phoebe laughs at first, assuming he was being sarcastic or something. They haven't talked about having more kids since Jackson was born. But she notices he looks serious and stops laughing. "What..really?"

"Yeah, why not? We could handle two! How hard can it be? We babysit your brother's triplets all the time, and those kids are handful!"

"Yeah, but..we can give them back to Frank and Alice. We can't give our own kids back, Joey. We're kinda stuck with them!"

Monica, overhearing this, chuckles from across the table. "Joey, your baby hasn't even reached the terrible twos yet. And when that happens, believe me, you're going to be glad you only have one! My kids were like two little monsters, terrorizing my house..leaving crumbs and sticky little hand prints all over everything!" she gives a shudder at the thought. "So glad that's over! Now all they wanna do is fight with each other.."

Phoebe nods in agreement. She loves being a mom, but it's not always easy. She couldn't even imagine what a huge responsibility it would be to have two babies to look after, especially at that age.

Joey rolls his eyes at Monica's comment and turns to Phoebe. "So? We don't have to worry about that because we are not Monica! No offense, Mon..It's just I always thought that I'd end up having more than one kid. Maybe that's because I had so many sisters growing up, and I don't want Jackson to be lonely."

"Well, he won't be. He'll have us!" Phoebe says, smiling down at her son. "..until y'know, we're really old and have dementia and don't even remember who he is. And then he'll probably put us in a home!..ugh, I guess you're right. He'll need someone to talk to after that. But..I dunno, I just kind of think it's too soon right now, you know? I mean Jackson is still so little."

Joey shrugs. He places Jackson on the ground so he can run off and play again. "Alright, well..it's just something to think about, I guess."

Phoebe feels Jackson hug her legs, and she smiles, as she reaches down, smoothing his hair before he runs off to join the other kids on the playground. She starts to think about how fast he's growing up, and how she misses him being a tiny baby, even though to her, he always will be. Joey slips his arm around her, kissing her head.

"For the record, though, I think you're doing a pretty good job being a mom so far." he tells her. "I mean, our kid's still in one peice. We must be doing something right!"

"That's true." She says with a smirk, resting her head on his shoulder, while she keeps an eye on Jackson on the playground. Emma is helping him go down the slide at the moment. "Hey, you know what, though?" Phoebe says suddenly, lifting her head. "If our next one was a girl, all together, there would be three girls, and three boys, including Ben..just like us! Maybe they'd all grow up to be best friends, like us, too!"

"That would be kind of neat." Rachel says. "They could all get together for Thanksgiving every year, like we do. Who knows, maybe they'll even get married to each other and have kids." she laughs.

Chandler looks up suddenly from his papers.. "Am I the only one who finds that idea disturbing? If we keep having more, we might as well buy some land and move to some kind of Amish commune, and have the children build barns and plant crops all day and reproduce!"

Monica hits him lightly on the arm.

"Well, either way, I just hope they all get along.. I mean, they don't really have a choice. They're gonna grow up together whether they like it or not!" Phoebe says.

"Yeah, kinda like we did." Joey says.

"Maybe if we had all met when we were toddlers, but yeah, same basic concept." Chandler says.

It's just starting to get dark out, so Monica goes over to gather up the twins.

"We should probably get going, too, huh?" Joey asks her. "Get Jackson to bed, and then maybe we can have some time to ourselves, you know?" he flashes her a grin.

Phoebe grins back. "I kinda like that idea.. I'll go get him!"

She goes over to the playground and picks Jackson up as he's trying to climb up onto the jungle gym. "Come on, my boy. Time to go home!"

He protests at first, fussing and crying a little, until she hand him off to Joey, which seems to do the trick. He very seldom seems to get mad at him they way he does her, but that's probably because she's his mother. She gathers up all his stuff and puts him back in his stroller.

"Alright...same time and place next week?" Phoebe says to her friends.

"Most likely." Rachel agrees, as he and Ross get up to leave as well.

"Emma, come on, sweetie, it's time to go!" Ross calls. The little girl rolls her eyes dramatically before she leaves the playground.

_'Just like her mom.._" Phoebe thinks to herself, shaking her head with a smile.

"See you guys later!" Joey says. He turns back and waves as he pushes Jackson's stroller back down the hill.

"Bye!" they all say. As much as she hates to admit it, Phoebe's somewhat sad they have to go so soon. Unfortunately, her visits with her friends never last as long as they use to, because their kids all have bed times.

She follows Joey and starts thinking about how much everyone has changed over the years, especially after they all became parents, and yet some things have stayed exactly the same. When Monica first introduced her to everyone fifteen years ago, she would have never imagined they would have ended up like this. Least of all she had always assumed that one day they'd all go their own seperate ways, but she never thought, in a million years, that they would end up like this. All of them married, with kids, and still best friends. It just seemed too good to be true, but now, after all they'd been through together, she couldn't imagine not having her friends in her life, and she still loves them all just as much as she always has. They were more like her family, than anything else, and now, she was happy that Jackson had so many people that she knew he'd always be able to call his family, too.


End file.
